As of Late & Chaos

This sums up our last couple weeks pretty darn well. Let me back track a little...

Six months ago D suffered a pretty bad shoulder injury while in training across the county. They immediately sent him back home to me and, together, we had a week to find a new place to live back up north near his previous station. I was overwhelmed by the whole situation but promised D that I would immediately calm down once we had secured a place to live. After all- moving is no fun unless you have some type of idea of where you're going. Within a couple hours D found a condo for rent, and five days later we camped- literally- in our new place after signing a lease.

While the town and the condominiums that we lived in were really, really nice the condo that we rented wasn't...err... treated properly... to be nice. But we did the best we could with what we had, and I think we made the best out of the situation. I successfully looked past the white walls, physical imperfections, and the small space and made our condo as homey as possible. We made a verbal agreement with our landlord to extend our lease for another six months.

One day, a couple months ago, I was served papers at our home notifying us that the condo we were renting was heading towards foreclosure. Wait.... what!?! We have never, ever missed or have been late on a rent payment so you can imagine our surprise. I tried my best to read through the legal mumbo jumbo but I could only understand a few things clearly:

1. We were to keep paying our rent.
2. Our landlord was behind a specific amount and had to pay the balance by a certain date. (Which, if paid, could stop the foreclosure proceedings.)
3. If the balance wasn't paid then the condo would be auctioned a week before my due date.
4. If the condo was auctioned off we could either have 24 hours notice, 30 days or 90 days notice to move, depending on the situation.
5. This wasn't a great situation for us.

We mentioned to our landlord that we were aware of the situation and asked him to keep us updated. Weeks went by and there was still no word, let alone a straight answer when we questioned him. A few weeks ago we were really adamant that we HAD to know.... after all- we didn't want to be in a situation where I was popping out Birdie in the midst of house hunting, or moving with an infant that was days or weeks old. D and I made the decision to remove ourselves from the situation and find a new place.

I'll spare the gory details but it was a lot more stressful and anxiety filled than I thought it would be. There were also a couple crying meltdowns on my part. In the end we found a place that's in the next town over, actually saves us money, and has a better use of space. The only down side is it's a single wide... literally... and it's extremely dated in the- ahem- decor department. But, we're making the most of it and the pros of it out weigh the dated wallpaper, wood paneling, linolium flooring and such.

We've spent the past week packing up our things. Fortunately I did a major spring clean shortly after we moved into the condo and most of our stuff was already packed in storage bins. Over the weekend we got permission to start moving our stuff over. D has been a champ at doing all of the actual lifting and moving while I'm heading the sorting and organizing department. Tomorrow is our official move in day. We accomplished so much over the past couple of days that we really only have the major stuff (bed, freezer, etc) to move over.

I'm so, so glad that we're done and out of foreclosure situation as much as I hate that I'm moving while 6 1/2 months pregnant.

........

Of course daily life continues in the midst of chaos. Here's a quick glimpse at ours: 

 D and our friend E hiked Saddle Mountain one morning. I thoroughly enjoyed not going and, instead, spent my time sewing. 

 I finished the bumpers for Birdie's cradle. I know SIDS is a big concern with bumpers so I purposefully did only two sides and made the inner batting super, supper thin. 

These knuckleheads always find a way to steal my heart. I'm glad we've been having unseasonably warm weather lately as it'll get them ready for our trip back to California. (Note the turquoise pillow I made for our couch with leftover cradle fabric.) 

A Tiny Peek of Life Lately, Part II

1. an uninvited guest to our sit-in-the-car-and-watch-the-waves lunch date.
2. my two strapping boys.
3. playtime at hug point. (and a glimpse of the waterfall d fell off of.)
4. french baguettes from scratch.
5. cinnamon-sugar pull-apart bread. oh. my. word.
6. oh, my sweet girl.
7. possible color scheme for birdie girl's room.
8. whoops. and ouch.

This, That & Some Things

 I got a really ridiculously good deal on fabric from JoAnn's. When I got it home I realized that the saleslady measured out the fabric incorrectly so I received 15 yards of fabric for $19! 

 We've been redecorating our living/ dining/ kitchen area, trying to get away from a country Pottery Barn look and going towards something we actually like. First thing to change was the curtains. 

In addition to these curtain panels I made two valences for the smaller windows in the same rooms. (And still had TONS of fabric to spare!) 

 The next day I moved onto making a maxi skirt. Keep in mind the curtains above are the first things I've sewn in eons. I looked over a few online tutorials for the skirt but ended up just winging the whole project. It's definitely NOT perfect, I learned a lot through my mistakes, and I now hate working with jersey material... but I didn't give up! I just need to shorten the length a tad and- ta-da!- I'll be wearing it in no time. 

Yesterday D and I went to a first birthday party. I spent the days prior whipping up this little outfit. I also crocheted a matching beanie. I've found a new love for double-sided interfacing and it has made my onesie projects waaaaay easier and faster. Birdie bird already has a few mama-made onesies. Was is it about hot air balloons that make me smile? 

Speaking of Birdie girl... I picked this lovely up the other day.  

Here's the- free- dresser that we scored for Birdie. It's going to get all new drawer pulls and a new color. I'm so happy I found a piece in great condition, with good lines, and will double as her changing table.  

D found this vintage cradle at a local consignment store for an astonishingly low, low, low price. We've decided to sell the other one that we already had and use this one instead. Not only is it sturdier but it's also bigger than the other bassinet. This, too, will get painted and I'm going to add some simple linens to it.  

We've had a crazy spring so far: lots and lots of rain but even more snow! Unfortunately the snow decided to melt at the same time it decided to pour for three days straight. This meant that the rivers flooded BIG time and prevented D from getting to work and me from my favorite day: grocery shopping day.  

We took a risk and drove through 3 feet of water to get into town. Scariest. 3. Minutes. Ever. Our car survived, thankfully, but there were many that didn't.  

Our new addiction: raspberry cheese danishes. It kills me to look at this picture and know I currently don't have any in the kitchen.  

I always forget I'm just not a long-haired person. I try and try but it always ends up in a bun unwashed for days and very damaged. After years and years of wanting to I finally took the plunge....

 A pixie cut and 7 inches of hair later... gone! I. Love. It. SOOOOOOO. Much. 

A good reason why D should never be unsupervised at the Goodwill store- he comes home with a powder blue polyester suit. Sigh.  

Finally- I caught this sweet, sweet moment between D and Roo yesterday on our walk. It was SO nice to feel the sun on our skin. Love these two together. 

At Low Tide

1. Tide pools around Haystack Rock at low tide.
2. A hidden cave on the backside of Haystack Rock.
3. A couple treasures we found.
4. Cloud coverage over the north side of town.
5. Beach houses I'd love to afford.
6. Beautiful clouds over the mountains.
7. A rare sighting of a sunset.

As Of Late

We've been walking further on our usual trail, discovering new areas of the forest. That is, when it's not hailing or down pouring. A certain dog keeps falling into the river on every walk which gives her mama and dad a good laugh. 

The other dog has been super, duper cuddly and snuggly lately. 

I turned another year older last week! I'm not too excited to be on the other side of my twenties... I AM excited for all of the exciting things happening this year. My last birthday, if you recall, was the birthday of snow.  I'm officially calling this year the birthday of food. On Tuesday my best bud, E, took me out to lunch. On Wednesday I convinced D to get Panda Express, while in Portland, for lunch. And on Thursday I received a large package full of this: 

Four of my favorite dishes from my FAVORITE Chinese restaurant in my hometown. It's tradition that us kids get to pick where we want to go for our birthday dinner. For over 20 years I've picked the same restaurant. A few months ago I jokingly asked my dad to ship me some. I never guessed that he actually would! 

 As you can see it was terrible. Absolutely terrible. 

Life, Lately

D heads back to work next week after being off for a month from his surgery. As much as I love having my own space, time and routine I actually survived him being home a lot better than I expected.  It was great that he was home during the weeks that I just had no energy. The times he refilled my water bottle, made me a pb & j, took the night/ early morning shift with the dogs and attempted to do the dishes were greatly appreciated. Of course there were some moments that I was SO wishing the month would go by faster.

Probably the best part this past month was the ability to explore our area more on a moment's notice. One of the  best perks of living in a small, coastal community is the unlimited access we have to the hundreds of beaches. One day we played tourist and drove south down the coastline to Manzanita and discovered another adorable town with some great beaches. I truly cannot wait to take our little one on walks to the beach!